Hiring an SEO Specialist

How to Narrow Down the List and Hire the Best SEO Specialist in Dubai

Global search engine optimization is an industry that is predicted to be worth $134.26 billion in 2026. When the projections are that jaw-dropping, it’s hard to ignore.

If you want your business to do well in the modern digital landscape, you must have a website that attracts your ideal customer. It must also incorporate technical intricacies needed to generate leads. Such services can be provided by a specialist SEO firm that will spend time getting to know you and your brand.

The Fundamentals of SEO | Why Hire an Expert?

SEO is one of the most successful, effective, and long-term online presence strategies. It will help to…

Amplify website traffic
Increase brand awareness
Increase conversion rates
Improve search engine ranking

SEO is an essential part of any effective digital marketing strategy, playing a unique role in driving organic traffic to a website. By optimizing a website’s content, structure, and technical aspects for search engines, businesses can improve their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more qualified leads to their website.

When it comes to hiring an SEO specialist, here the most important aspects to judge them on:

Excellent Content

The primary reason you are hiring an SEO expert in Dubai is to upload high-quality, interactive content. Without content on your website, Google will refuse to rank the business. The website will continue losing ranks in the search engines, implying your business is obsolete. Therefore, content ensures it increases online traffic.

SEO professionals understand the art of content generation. They will focus on different keyword variations to ensure high-quality, relevant organic traffic lands on the client’s website.

Successful Keyword Implementation

Content without keyword targeting is like a car without an engine. The content you create should always be constructed around specific terms and phrases to attract your target audience.

For example, if you own an automotive company in Dubai, the business may target broad, short-tail keywords such as “car parts” as well as more specific, long-tail keywords such as “honda car parts near me”. We will return to the distinction between and purposes of short and long-tail keywords shortly.

The target keywords of a webpage will help Google identify the subject matter. In turn, it will ensure that the page appears when people type in the search query on Google.

To identify the correct terms, the SEO expert in Dubai will carry out in-depth keyword research. It will educate the professional about the audience’s interest and how to best mention the terms in the content. The search engine will penalize the website if the keywords are forcefully (and unnaturally) incorporated into the content. Therefore, adding the terms organically will positively influence the brand’s campaign.

There are three main factors that a good SEO consultant or agency will look out for when conducting keyword research:

Search volume: the number of people that are searching for a particular query.
Keyword difficulty: how competitive the keyword is and, therefore, how difficult it is to rank for.
Search intent: the intention behind a query – for instance, are people looking to buy something when they type it in (transactional intent) or simply discover more about a topic/service/product (informational intent)?

To further explain this process, Here are two snapshots from SEMrush – the SEO analysis tool that we use to conduct our keyword research here at Trafiki:

SEMrush "Honda car parts near me" data screenshot

Whilst “car parts” has a much higher search volume than “honda car parts near me” in the UAE (2,900 vs 70), it is significantly easier to rank for the latter (47% vs 19% keyword difficulty). This must be accounted for and that’s why an effective SEO strategy must target both short-tail and long-tail keywords!

Long-tail keywords also often suggest that the user has a more precise idea of what they are looking for. As a result, this traffic may be easier to convert and, thus, more profitable.

Link Building

Another crucial SEO component is link building. This component involves receiving links from other websites citing your website as a credible source for your niche. If a website has more backlinks, they are seen as more credible on a topic by search engines, therefore more links can mean a higher ranking.

The highest quality backlinks are those that come from extremely relevant and authoritative sources. For example, if you are a Dubai-based fashion eCommerce brand, getting a link in an article titled “The Best Fashion Brands in Dubai” by Vogue Arabia will positively influence your rankings.

Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are the small text you read that appears under the search engine page link. Their purpose is to communicate the content’s central idea to the search engine and the audience.

Whilst meta descriptions are not a ranking factor, a well-written, engaging description will increase the likelihood that a user clicks on your webpage on the SERP (search engine results page). Your meta description should include a call-to-action that encourages the user to visit your page and, as a general rule, not exceed 160 characters.

Load Time

Page speed is a direct search engine ranking factor. Moreover, the average attention span of a user waiting for a website to load is three seconds. In other words, your website must appear in the mentioned timeframe before it disinterests the potential customer. Users will avoid the website and continue their online search if the website takes longer.

An SEO professional will ensure a quick loading time with content and image optimization. They will also compress visual elements such as videos to ensure the website does not lag. They will also communicate different server plans with the clients based on excellent bandwidth and information exchange. As a result, the customer is impressed with the website creation.

Visual Components

All texts and no images make for dull content. Search engine optimization in Dubai is successful only if the readers continue visiting the website. The user will quickly become disengaged if it is only comprised of text and does not educate the reader with visuals.

Therefore, the specialist should add images, graphics, videos, and other visual aids to entice the user to stay. The strategy will ensure the customer remains thoroughly engaged.

Website Navigation

Whilst website navigation is predominantly a user experience factor, there is a growing overlap between SEO and UX. This has meant that it has also become an important part of search engine optimization. An SEO expert, therefore, should help your business create an easy-to-understand and easy-to-navigate website.

Easy navigation is typically rooted in a good website structure, which makes your website easier for search engine crawlers to crawl. So, effective website navigation will not only keep users on your website longer also, but it may also help improve your ranking!

Tips for Hiring an SEO Specialist

Many organizations and businesses offer digital services to create a name for themselves in the market. Unfortunately, this means that there many companies out there that will provide inadequate SEO services.

Hiring an ill-competent SEO agency is very costly for the brand. It wastes funds, time, and resources, meaning that the business is likely to take step steps backward. Here are a few tips that should help you in your search:

Measure and Highlight Goals

When companies search for “SEO services in Dubai”, they are primarily interested in boosting sales and revenue. The best SEO companies out there understand their client’s requirements in order to do so. They are open to accepting feedback and collaborating closely with them; in turn, they will be able to implement effective SEO strategies to actualize their goals.

Study the Samples

Studying an agency’s previous work is crucial when hiring them to do SEO for your business. An agency’s track record can reveal a lot about their ability to deliver quality results. By looking at their past work, you can evaluate their expertise, experience, and success rate in optimizing websites for search engines. You can also gain insights into their approach, methodologies, and strategies, which can help you determine whether they align with your business objectives and requirements.

Moreover, studying their portfolio can also give you an idea of their industry-specific knowledge and expertise. Different industries have unique SEO challenges and requirements. Therefore, an agency that has already worked with businesses in your industry before is likely to have a better understanding of these challenges and how to address them.

The Budget

Defining your budget is an essential step for any business. This is because different agencies charge different rates for their search engine optimization services, so without a clear budget in mind, you risk overspending or under-investing in your SEO efforts.

By setting a budget, you can ensure that you are allocating the right amount of resources to your SEO campaign while also avoiding any surprises or unexpected costs along the way.

Moreover, having a clear budget can help you narrow down your options when selecting an agency. Different agencies offer different services and pricing structures, and by knowing what you can afford, you can focus on agencies that offer services within your budget range. This can help you avoid wasting time and effort on agencies that are not a good fit for your needs or that are outside of your budget constraints.

Look for SEO Red Flags

Unfortunately, an inexperienced SEO “expert” will exploit novice clients. They will take advantage of their limited knowledge and unfamiliarity with SEO practices. These “experts” often offer Black Hat SEO, which uses outdated and faulty practices. Even though the strategy may be beneficial in the short term, it will adversely impact the website in the long run (e.g. penalized in search engine ranking). Undoubtedly, a company does not want Black Hat SEO practices linked to its brand – it’s definitely a bad look!

Conversely, White Hat SEO involves implementing genuine SEO techniques that reflect the client’s best interest and benefit their company. The strategies will complement the search engine algorithm and boost ranking.

The online algorithm has advanced tremendously in the previous few years with its self-identifying features. Therefore, it will easily discover outdated strategies against new techniques. If you aim to establish a cemented market presence, White Hat SEO is the way to a long-term and healthy return on investment.

If an SEO expert in Dubai is offering the following services, you should avoid them at all costs:

Above-average attention to backlinking, irrelevant references, and using AI tools
Promising high-quality results in an impossible time. The over-promotion of guaranteed results is concerning.
Inexpensive plans compared to the services offered. The cost is way below market rates but offers the same SEO practices as well-accomplished SEO providers.
The agency does not discuss creating content. Furthermore, there are no meetings to talk about user experience, growing the brand digitally, or long-term planning.
The website continues to look outdated. It lags and takes a long time to load too.

Plan the Interview

When looking to hire an agency to perform search engine optimization, you should carry out an interview. The clients must be very organized in asking questions. Furthermore, the inquiries must not target the agency personally but maintain an objective mindset. The focal points of the questions must be the client’s business and the factors important to them.

An accepting environment during the interview will lead to an open-minded conversation. Furthermore, you can also set assessment criteria or a scorecard to shortlist agencies, before narrowing down the list to determine the best SEO company available to you in Dubai!

Read the Fine Print

After you have decided on the agency to hire, both parties will present contracts that legally bind them together. Everyone associated with the contract is encouraged to hire lawyers who can explain the terms. Furthermore, if the terms are unclear, ask for an explanation.

Do not sign an SEO contract that you have not read. Furthermore, do not enter into long-term contracts that dominantly mention cancellation fees and similar clauses. The future is uncertain, and no one knows how the contract will pan out.

Even though long-term contracts are beneficial and save costs, avoid them in the following circumstances

When an SEO agency can hold the product or intellectual properties hostage
The parties work together for a few months and change the particulars immediately
The ownership of content and development updates is unclear.
The terms and conditions are ambiguous and confusing.

In short, the relationship between the SEO agency and the client is based on accountability, where billings are not outstanding. Both parties trust each other’s input and value the corresponding input.

Agency Location

Whilst some companies will accept virtual interactions and meetings, others may prefer to visit the physical location for a better understanding of the agency’s operations. Both choices are equally acceptable. Regardless, you must know where the service-providing agency is.

Contact Trafiki Digital Dubai Today and Grow Your Business

Search engine optimization will increase your website traffic, allowing more customers to identify your brand and visit the website to learn more about its values, mission, and aims.

Whilst having SEO knowledge is obviously paramount, it’s almost just as important that your brand works with an agency that understands your requirements. We understand that choosing the right SEO agency is stressful, so why not eliminate the hassle and work with Trafiki?

Trafiki believes SEO is integral to the long-term success of any company. If the brand is not visible online, the business solely relies on traditional advertising, which is a money-draining and outdated methodology.

Trafiki is the top SEO company in Dubai – led by marketing experts and powered by data. By that, we mean that all our digital marketing decisions are rooted in data and statistics. Book a FREE 30-minute discovery call with one of our SEO experts and discover how we can grow your business.